


Lifetimes, Past and Present

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5071711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That box where he kept the Olivia thing should stay closed and locked.  It seemed to be too big for such confines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lifetimes, Past and Present

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between Downloaded Child and Beast’s Obsession. I can't imagine how many conversations Olivia and Rafael had after her breakup with Brian. She was at a very vulnerable time and something even worse was coming. I think Rafael’s love for her was at the boiling over point with everything that happened next sealing the deal for him. But that’s just one of many, many head canons so…ignore me if you want.

“Are you alright?”

She didn’t answer, just kept going through the files on the table. Her glasses were resting halfway down the bridge of her nose and she had a pen in her mouth. They were the only two people in the room but it was as if she didn’t hear him. Liv was in her own world right now and for as tough as some of the aspects if this case were, he didn’t think that was the reason.

“Hey,” he got up from his desk and walked across the room to the couch where she was sitting. She was going over victim statements, IDs, and crime scene photos. “Liv?”

“Hmm?” she finally looked up at him.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” After a quick nod she went back to what she was doing.

Undeterred, Rafael sat down beside her. Something wasn’t right. They'd known each other for a year and a half now. He'd become somewhat of an expert on Olivia’s body language and moods. This was even more so after the William Lewis incident. He didn’t want to overstep but he was sure things were off.

“Liv?”

“Yeah?” she looked up again.

“Do you just want to call it a night?” he asked.

“I could go for another hour or so if you could, Counselor. The DNA was only partial and Lyons could still say it wasn’t him. He's got a good lawyer so this isn't a slam dunk for us.”

“You look like you can use a rest.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Olivia said.

“Friends worry sometimes.”

“I'm fine.”

“If you weren't would you even tell me?” Rafael asked. He backpedaled a bit; that sounded harsher than he intended. “I'm sorry, I'm here to help if you need me, not to bully you. I just want you to know that you don’t have to go through anything alone. But if you want me to back off then I will.”

“Brian and I broke up.”

“When?” Rafael prayed he wasn’t smiling. This wasn’t good news for Olivia or him for that matter.

Damn, he just couldn’t get over his dislike for Brian Cassidy. There was just something about him that reminded Rafael of the pricks in high school who tripped him in the hallway and laughed about it. They were the guys who stole lunch money or purposely asked a girl out because you liked her but didn’t stand a chance. While embodying some of the aspects of his worse white boy nightmare wasn’t exactly Brian’s fault, Rafael struggled to ever give him the benefit of the doubt. He just knew too many assholes.

“Two weeks ago.” She gave a sad smile when she answered.

“So you're not OK?” He gingerly put his hand on her arm, removing it just a moment later.

“I'm OK.” Olivia nodded. “I am, it’s just…” she sighed. “You ever feel like you missed the last train?”

“Yeah. Brian Cassidy was not your last train. I hope I don’t sound condescending when I say that because friends are supposed to be encouraging in sad times but not invalidate your feelings.”

“It sounds like you got that from a self-help book.”

“I just know someone who's extra smart about these things and I listen to her, even when I pretend not to.” Rafael said.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You're different, Olivia,” he put his hand on her arm again. “You're special. I don’t want that to sound like it sounds when other people say it because that’s not what I mean. If I met you in a bar or at some party and didn’t know a thing about you, the last thing I would think is cop. Except the way you walk…that is pure cop. 

“But nothing else about you is. You are so much more than what that atmosphere can breed. I don’t dislike cops, per se. I just don’t know a lot of male cops who could ever complement you. I didn’t know Brian that well, and I know he cared about you, but…”

“If you met me in a bar, what would you say to pick me up?” Olivia asked.

“I'm sorry?”

“If you met me in a bar, what would you say to pick me up? C'mon Counselor, you started it. I'm sure you have some idea.”

Rafael really had no idea how he got himself into conversations like this. He had no idea how, at his age, a woman could still get him tongue tied. That box where he kept the Olivia thing should stay closed and locked. It seemed to be too big for such confines. If he tried to weasel out of the conversation now she would needle him. It would all be playful, and surely adorable, but would only make things worse. Rafael had brought a knife to a gun fight.

“And I'm sure you’d have a nice laugh with your friends about the nerd in the dandy tie who tried to chat you up.” He said with a smile.

“With those green eyes, and that smile, no.” she shook her head. “Chat me up.”

“I'd buy you a drink first, something red. It would be rich and flavorful like the woman herself. I'd ask who your favorite artist was and your favorite painting. I'd read your palm.”

“Oh God, are you serious?” she laughed. “And you were doing so well.”

“Still am,” Rafael pointed to her. “You're smiling.” He took her hand, turned it upright and held it in his. He thought he felt her tremble as his finger moved across the lines. “You were a Greek goddess in one of your last lives. Eos, perhaps, the goddess of dawn. It may have been Hemera, goddess of daylight. You still have that glow…you’ve carried it over millennia.”

“OK,” Olivia slipped her hand out of his. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks but prayed she wasn’t blushing. The last time she blushed had to be 14. There had been nothing to blush about since, not even the good things. “Maybe.”

“I'm just saying.” He shrugged. “It’s a possibility. I'd ask you what your ideal first date was and the last book that moved you to tears. I'd let you ask me one thing that I would have to answer truthfully.”

“Why is a guy like you still single?” she asked.

“Don’t you know?” Rafael countered. “All this time I've been waiting for you. What luck that we've finally found each other.”

Olivia laughed. She took off her glasses, pinching her nose. It felt good to laugh and feel some of the weight lifting from her shoulders. She'd known for a while that it wasn’t going to last forever with Brian. Holding on to something that was barely there wasn’t easy. 

The beginning with them had been easy. Sex, takeout, a refuge from the 16th Precinct with someone who knew the hell she saw on the daily basis…there was no effort. That’s why they called it the honeymoon phase. How long it lasted varied for most couples. Looking back on everything with Brian, it seemed as if it lasted just a moment. The ride got bumpy almost as soon as they were out of the gate.

“You're going to make someone very happy one day, Counselor.” She said.

“My mother will be glad to hear that.” Rafael smiled. “Are you hungry? Let's put this away for the night and get some dinner. I’ll even let you pick the spot.”

“How about wine and seafood?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Rafael got up and walked back over to his desk. They needed to clean up all the files and would probably work on it more in the next few days. It surely wasn’t the only case the sergeant and the ADA had on their plates. SVU was busy; there were at least three different ADAs in Barba’s office handling various cases at the moment. Liv was working nearly all of them in some capacity. She needed a vacation. Rafael had gotten her to accept dinner…he didn’t want to push it.

“We could go to Oceana.” He put a few folders in the outbox for Carmen to collect in the morning and made sure everything for the Lyons case was in a neat stack. Then he took his coat from the rack next to the side door. The early April nights could still get chilly.

“Why do you always pick the most expensive restaurants?” Olivia grabbed her coat and bag. She would be happy to put this case away for the day. More would call for her attention in the morning.

“Cheap food is a sin, Sergeant. Cheap seafood is a trip to the ER, which will end up costing more than dinner at Oceana.”

“By very little, just so you know.”

He smiled as he turned out the office light and they walked to the elevator together. The DA’s office never really closed, there were still some people around. At this hour it was mostly janitorial staff and EADAs preparing for meetings that should’ve taken place last week. Pushing the down button on the elevator, Rafael could almost taste freedom. Tonight it tasted like filet mignon and sea scallops in shallot butter.

“Counselor?”

“Yes?” he looked at Olivia as they stepped into the open elevator. She reached over to push the lobby button before he could.

“Tell me more about the Eos. Did you say she was the goddess of daylight?”

“She's the goddess of dawn. Each morning she opens the gates of heaven and lets the golden light shine through to the rest of the world. It’s said that her tears are the morning dew. She had a very interesting mythical life…some of the major Greek gods and goddesses play roles in it.”

“I want to know all about her.” The doors opened, Olivia and Rafael emerged from the elevator together.

“I just want to make sure that I don’t bore you.” He said.

“I've listened to you give summations in court…I'm not concerned.”

“Alright, well Eos isn't a very well know goddess but she should be because many of the well knowns have stumbled through her life and are in big chapters in the telling of her story. It’s rumored that Aphrodite herself put a love curse on Eos after finding her in bed with Aphrodite’s love, Ares. The curse was that she would never be satisfied in love, would search and search but never find the one that was quite right. It was a curse of jealousy and spite, but a curse nonetheless. But what it really ended up doing was making Eos more important in mythology because her wandering puts her almost anywhere during any given important moment in their history. Are you sure I'm not boring you?”

“No.” Olivia shook her head as they walked out of the building. It was best to get close to the corner to properly hail a cab. It would be a 25 minute drive on a bad traffic night. Surprisingly, not every night in Manhattan was a bad traffic night.

“She is the sister of Helios and Selene, God of the Sun and Goddess of the Moon respectfully.” Rafael said. He hailed a cab and opened the door for Olivia when it pulled up to the curb. “It can't be proven but many think Eos is the middle child,” he said after giving the cabbie the restaurant address. “Hence all the trouble that will come later…”

***


End file.
